Parshas Beha'alosecha
Chof Sivan 5766
Volume 2
Issue 33
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THE SHLUCHIM OFFICE
PARSHAS BEHA'ALOSECHA
The recess bell rang and the fifth graders headed out to the yard.
"Chani," Morah Rosen called out softly. "Please come to my desk for a moment. I would like to speak to you."
Chani turned around and walked towards her teacher. "Shevi," she said to her friend, "please make sure I get picked to play on one of the Machanayim teams. I'll be out as soon as I finish talking to Morah." Then she added, "And please make sure that Nadia is also picked."
Morah Rosen waited until all the girls had left the classroom. "Chani, I would like to compliment you on your tremendous efforts to help Nadia. You have shown a lot of Ahavas Yisroel. Things are very different here than in Russia, and you have been helping her feel at home in her new country."
Chani smiled shyly. She really had tried very hard, and was happy to be praised. She had given up some other activities to help Nadia with the homework, and she went out of her way to invite her for Shabbos.
"While I really appreciate what you have been doing, I would like to teach you something about helping others." Morah continued.
Chani looked at her teacher questioningly. "What do you mean, Morah? I was really trying to do my best. I help her in every way that I can. Last week, I even let Nadia copy my answers to the Novi questions."
Morah Rosen stroked Chani's head gently. "Of course, you're trying your best. But those Novi questions are just what I want to discuss with you. We can learn a lesson about this from this week's parshah."
Chani didn't understand. "What does Parshas Beha’alosecha have to do with helping Nadia?" she wondered.
"Well," Morah explained, "The parshah begins with the mitzvah to light the menorah. But the Torah does not use the word 'light.' Instead, it uses the word Beha’alosecha which means 'When you raise up.' Rashi tells us that this teaches that we must keep on lighting the wick until the fire rises up on its own."
"I think I understand what Rashi is saying," replied Chani. "Sometimes when I light my Shabbos candle, the wick doesn't light right away. I have to keep touching the wick with the match until it burns nicely on its own."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Morah Rosen. "From this we can learn that when we try to help others, we should do our best to guide them so they can do things on their own - even if it takes extra effort and time."
Chani nodded. "I understand, Morah. If I really want to help Nadia, I shouldn't let her copy my answers. I should be patient and explain the questions to her until she understands, so that she can answer them herself."
Morah Rosen smiled and patted Chani on her back. "With matches like you, Chani, we will surely be able to light the menorah in the Third Beis Hamikdash very soon!"(Adapted from Sichos Shabbos Beha’alosecha)
‘Please Tell Me What the Rebbe Said’
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Made from one,
Answer: נזיר |
Congratulations to Yaakov Akivah Steinmetz, age 12, S. Paulo Brazil for solving the brain buster. |
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Hey kids,
Wow! This has been a very busy week. Getting prepared for Gimmel Tammuz is a lot of work. Every day I leave my red brick house at the crack of dawn and drive to my green-roofed office. And every day I sit at my desk and shake, measure and mix. I’m the one-and-only Dr. Getzel, world famous eye-doctor, scientist and inventor. I’m working on adding a feature to my COL lens that will help us see how to connect to the Rebbe. It’s a complexly-complicated and powerfully-powerful feature that has four different parts to it. That’s why I call it the four-sight feature. So far, I have discovered the ingredients for the first two parts of the four-sight feature.
I’m a surprising kind of a guy so all sorts of surprises happen when I’m around. I surprise Mrs. Getzel when I put chocolate syrup and sprinkles on my scrambled eggs in the morning and I surprise my neighbors when I accidentally leave the house in my pink and yellow stripped pyjamas. Sometimes I even surprise myself when I look in the mirror and yell, “Boo!” The latest surprise was when I discovered the first two ingredients in the four-sight feature.
I was sitting at my desk, minding my own business when the inky blue pen I was writing with spun off my desk.
Bounce, bounce, roll. It bounced twice on the floor and rolled into my closet.
All good inventors need special inky blue pens to write down their inventions and this was the best inky blue pen that I ever had. So I did what any good inventor would do, I hopped off my chair and crawled into the closet to look for it. But like I said before, surprises are always lurking in the corners waiting for me and boy was I in for a big surprise.
The closet was very spooky and very dark. I couldn’t see a thing so I started feeling around on the floor. I felt some leftover cheese blintzes from Shavuos, an afikomen (so that’s where I hid it!), a pile of mismatched socks (Hey! How did they get here? I lost those socks in the dryer!), and three empty gefilte fish jars (???), but no inky blue pen. I held on tightly to my yarmulke and moved farther into the closet. Suddenly, I felt myself falling.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh,” I yelled.
THUD! I landed with a thud in a black hole.
Luckily I only got a little bruise on my tzitzis from the fall. I felt around me and right there was my pen! So now I had my inky blue pen, but I also had a problem: How was I going to get back to my office to work on the four-sight feature to connect to the Rebbe? Suddenly, my knee spoke up (I must have banged it in the fall, or, maybe I banged my head). Actually, it sang up. It started to sing Tzama Lecha Nafshi. “Why are you singing at a time like this?!” I asked it. “I’m singing one of the Rebbe’s Knee-ggunim!” it answered. “When I sing a knee-ggun that the Rebbe sung, I feel connected to the Rebbe. The song is like a string that ties my Neshama to the Rebbe’s and I know he will help me.”
Before I could blink, my eyeballs started speaking, too! “The Rebbe used to stand for hours giving out dollars,” squeaked my eyeballs. “Once a lady asked the Rebbe how he could stand for so long without getting tired and he answered that all the Yidden are like precious diamonds to him and one doesn’t get tired from counting diamonds.”
“That’s a beautiful story,” I said. “BUT HOW IS IT GOING TO GET US OUT OF THIS MESS?!” My eyeballs rolled themselves at me and said, “By connecting to the Rebbe through See-pur of course. Telling stories of the Rebbe connects us to him, it’s as if he’s here, holding our hand and showing us the way.”
Then they both chanted together, “If we are connect to the Rebbe above, then we won’t fall below. The Rebbe will drag us out of here!”
Before I could say the twelve pesukim backwards, I was sitting back at my cluttered desk, holding my inky blue pen in my hand. And that’s the surprising story of how I discovered the first two ingredients that help connect us to the Rebbe.
Tune in next week to find out the rest of the ingredients in the four-sight feature.
Dr. Getzel
Gittel Yemini, age 7
Los Angeles, CaliforniaHi my name is Gittel Yemini and I am 7 years old . My family is on shlichus in Los Angeles, California. The weather here is not hot but not cold. It's in the middle. We have 2 Chabad buildings. One is a building for the Hebrew School, Preschool, and Camp and one is for the Shul. We do programs like Shabbos group, Hebrew school, camp, parties for the Yomim Tovim, and different evenings for the adults. I go to school in Bais Chaya Mushka, the Lubavitcher girls' school here. We learn chumash, yahadus, and chassidus. I like to play board games, color, and play ball games. Some of my friends from school are also on Shlichus in other parts of California like in Topanga, Upland, Glendale, and Sherman Oaks. When I go to shul and camp and I become friends with the non-frum girls. I feel proud to be a shlucha of the Rebbe.
In פרשת בהעלותך some of the אידן complain about the taste of the מן but earlier in the תורה we are told that the מן tasted very sweet, like cake fried in honey. We also know that it could taste like whatever the person eating it wanted it to taste like. So what were the אידן complaining about?
The גמרא tells us that the מן came to three different places, in three different ways. A צדיק would open his door and find it at the entrance to his tent. A בינוני would have to leave the camp to find his portion, and a רשע would have to walk for a while to get to his portion.Also, the צדיק 's portion was in the shape of a finished loaf of bread. The בינוני 's was prepared dough but not baked, and the רשע 's was raw. It had to be ground in the mill, and afterwards cooked or baked.
So, every morning when the people went out for their portions of מן , it was obvious who was a צדיק , בינוני or רשע . The people who complained against the מן were the רשעים . They pretended that they didn’t like its taste although they were really annoyed that everyone now knew what they were really like.
(Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)
Even though שבועות is known as חג הביכורים , it is not the only time that the אידן could bring ביכורים . In fact שבועות is the beginning of the ביכורים season. ביכורים could be brought until סוכות . If someone had still not brought his ביכורים before סוכות , he could still bring them until חנוכה , but then he couldn’t say the special פסוקים .
We know that farmers had to bring the first of the שבעת המינים that grew in their fields or vineyards, to the בית המקדש . When the farmer would go out to inspect his produce and see the first fruits or stalks growing, he would tie a string around the branch or stalk, so that later, when it was fully grown, he would be able to tell which were the first fruits.
When a farmer brought his ביכורים to the בית המקדש the best thing was to put each of the שבעת המינים in a separate basket. But if he couldn’t, he could layer them in one basket with separations so that they wouldn’t get mixed up. This is the order he would put them in: First barley on the bottom, then wheat. On top of that he would put the olives, then the dates, then the pomegranates, then the figs and on the very top he would put clusters of grapes.
When the אידן went up to ירושלים they wouldn't go alone. Groups of אידן would travel together, dancing and celebrating the whole way, happy to do this מצוה .
(Adapted from ‘The Book of Our Heritage’)
Summer Message from the RebbeSummer vacation is approaching and no doubt you are all looking forward to making the most of it. I would like to make a suggestion to you in connection to this.
The summer recess is meant to give you an opportunity to strengthen you both in body and soul which of course, go hand in hand together.
For Jewish boys and girls to be truly healthy means, first of all, to have a healthy נשמה . And a נשמה gets its health from the תורה andמצות , which are “our life and the length of our days.“The תורה and מצות are to the Jewish people what breathing and nourishment are to the body. A healthy person rarely thinks about the vital necessity of breathing and eating. However, on certain occasions a person does actually become aware of these things. For example, when you swim under water and hold your breath, then come up, you feel the urge to fill your lungs with fresh air. Or, after a fast day, when the body has been temporarily weakened from lack of food and drink you immediately feel the new energy you get from food and drink.
Now during the school year, when a great deal of the time that should be spent in studying the תורה and doing מצות is taken up with other occupations, such as the study of English and arithmetic, and so on,…the נשמה gets somewhat undernourished. At such times your נשמה “holds its breath“ so to speak. For your נשמה , getting back to תורה and מצות is like “coming up for air!
During the summer recess, you can now breath more freely and more fully, with the opportunity to apply yourselves to תורה study and תורה activities with the utmost eagerness and enthusiasm. Not only can you make up for the lost time, you also have a chance to “take a deep breath“ for the school period ahead.
So make the most of your summer vacation, and may Hashem bless you all with a happy and healthy summer, both spiritually and physically.
With blessings for a healthy and happy summer.
(based on a letter from the Rebbe, Shavuos 5743)
The בעל שם טוב once called in one of his חסידים , ר‘ ניסן . He gave the חסיד a closed envelope and asked him to travel to the castle of the local poretz Count Radzvill. The purpose of this trip was to try to bring the Count's best friend, Pierre Louis, back to אידישקייט . ר‘ ניסן was told to open the envelope in two days time. ר‘ ניסן was confused because, as far as everyone knew, Pierre Louis was not Jewish. Yet, he followed his Rebbe's instructions without question.
Count Radzvill was kind and just to all those living on his lands, both the אידן and goyim. On the particular day that ר‘ ניסן arrived at the castle, Count Radzvill and Pierre Louis were just returning from a two-month holiday in Europe. Crowds of people had gathered to welcome them back.
After the two men had entered the castle and the crowd had gone away, ר‘ ניסן wandered around the grounds for the rest of the day wondering how he could arrange to speak to Pierre Louis. When night came, ר‘ ניסן travelled to the closest village and slept in the local שול . Early the next morning, ר‘ ניסן returned to the castle hoping to get an idea as to how he could speak with Pierre Louis. But as he approached the castle, ר‘ ניסן immediately noticed that something was wrong. A large crowd was gathered there, but now many of them were crying.
ר‘ ניסן inquired and found out what had happened. The Count and Pierre Louis had gone hunting late the night before. When they returned from their successful trip, a tragic accident took place. The Count tripped on one of the castle steps, his pistol went off and he had a large bleeding wound in his chest.
Despite the attention of the best doctors, all efforts to stop the bleeding had not helped. The Count was dying.
Suddenly, ר‘ ניסן remembered the envelope the בעל שם טוב had given him. He opened it, took out the letter and began reading. It was a prescription with exact directions how to prepare a cure for...a gunshot wound to the chest!
ר‘ ניסן ran to the castle gate waving the letter and demanded to be let in, but the guards refused. Pierre Louis heard the noise from inside the palace and suddenly came running out to the gate obviously very irritated, "What do you want here Jew?" he shouted, "Don't tell me you are a doctor? Leave here immediately!! What is that paper you are holding?"
ר‘ ניסן tried to explain but the Frenchman snatched the prescription from his hand and began to read. "This is your cure?!" He screamed. "This is nonsense!" He was about to tear it into pieces when one of the doctors came out of the castle, saw the commotion and approached.
He examined the paper, turned facing Pierre Louis with his back to the איד and whispered. "They've given up in there. Let the Jew try, it can't hurt."
Minutes later ר‘ ניסן was in the castle, had prepared the medicine and was beginning the treatment. Some of it he smeared on the wound, some of it he applied on various parts of the Count's body, and every few minutes he repeated the process, exactly according to the instructions.
To everyone's surprise the Count stopped bleeding heavily almost immediately! After the medicine was applied a few times he even seemed to breathe more deeply and evenly. After an hour, instead of being dead as everyone had thought would happen, color returned to his cheeks and minutes later he regained consciousness!
The doctors and professors were speechless; they had never seen anything like this at all.
After several hours the Count was strong enough to call ר‘ ניסן to his bedside and thank him. He offered to reward him but the חסיד refused. "Seeing you returned to health is my reward. Just continue to treat the אידן kindly," he said. "But I do have one request: I want to speak with Pierre Louis alone."
The confused Pierre Louis and ר‘ ניסן went into a side room and closed the door. ר‘ ניסן said, "I am a follower of a great Jew called ר‘ ישראל בעל שם טוב . He was the one who wrote that prescription and saved your friend. He told me to come here and....bring you back to אידישקייט ."
Pierre was still in shock from the near death of his friend and then his strange miraculous recovery. And now this? Pierre just looked at the חסיד , eyes wide in disbelief. "Back? אידישקייט ?" He mumbled to himself. "Back?"
"The בעל שם טוב told me to tell you that your real name is פסח צבי ," continued ר‘ ניסן . "Both your parents were Jewish. Your mother wanted to give you a Jewish חינוך but your father was against it and he won. Eventually you lost your Jewish identity. But now it is time for you to return."
"I don't understand," said Pierre, trying to clear his throat, "Are you saying that I am...a Jew? A Jew? It's impossible!! Impossible!!"
Pierre Louis refused to discuss the subject further and abruptly ended the conversation. He only promised he would think about it more.
Almost a year later ר‘ ניסן heard a knock on his door, opened it and was shocked to see a איד with a beard standing in front of him: Pierre Louis, now פסח צבי , was returning to אידישקייט .
(Adapted from L’chaim Weekly)
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